The role of search engine optimization (SEO) in increasing sales in the hospitality industry

The role of search engine optimization (SEO) in increasing sales in the hospitality industry

Question

Background

“Search Engine Optimization” (SEO) can be described as the process of gaining “traffic” from natural search engine results. SEO is primarily used to improve the quality and quantity of “website traffic” by increasing the visibility of a particular website or webpage. According to Baye, De los Santos, and Wildenbeest (2016), most retailers and business organizations receive a large amount of traffic through organic or unpaid clicks, so advertisers typically use “organic clicks.” Use SEO to improve. Ranking companies online is essential to driving organic clicks (Kriechbaumer and Christodoulidou 2014). Users rarely click on links beyond the first page of search results, so improving your “search engine rankings” is essential to your business success. Gudivada, Rao, and Paris (2015) pointed out that search engine ranking (SER) has become essential for strategic marketing and sales. To increase sales, it is important to rank high in search engine results. Therefore, SEO plays an important role in optimizing sales in the hospitality industry. It is clear that if a hotel website is not properly optimized, it cannot foster conversation (Semeradova and Vávrová 2016). This is evidenced by the fact that almost 60% of vacation travelers and 55% of business nomads use search engines to plan their trips. Therefore, hoteliers who do not think about search engine optimization are bound to suffer serious losses. The Internet is a very important sales channel, so SEO is necessary to increase sales.

Goal

The purpose of the study is to investigate the use and necessity of search engine optimization to increase sales in the hospitality industry.

The goal

The goals to be achieved in the research are stated as follows:

Understand SEO concepts and features
Analyzing the relationship between SEO and sales growth in the hospitality industry
Understand the working process of SEO in the hotel industry
He recommends effective SEO tools and resources that the hospitality industry can use to increase sales.

Research questions

The research questions addressed in this particular study are stated as follows:

Why is SEO an important consideration for increasing traffic? What are the most important requirements for securing the top spot on search engine results pages (SERPs)? How can it help you improve? Why has SEO become essential for increasing hospitality sales? What are the specific SEO tools and resources that the hospitality industry can use to ensure good SERP ranks? Research conducted Now, you need to be able to find answers to the research questions you identified above. The study will only be successful if the results of this study can provide answers to the research questions identified above.

Problem statement

SER is gradually becoming a critical need for planned and digital marketing and sales. Therefore, it is important to identify the benefits and necessity of SEO to increase sales. SERP rankings are tied to a specific and complex algorithm that takes into account 200 factors that control whether a particular user can access a particular page. Therefore, it can be said that SEO plays an important role in driving traffic to a particular he website (Popescu, Nicolae, Pavel 2015). With the increase in internet usage and pre-travel internet searches, hospitality websites need to maintain good SEO rankings to increase sales. Information technology is having a major impact on the hospitality industry. Hospitality is more or less associated with tourism (Bowie et al. 2016). The rapid development and increasing popularity of search engines is having a major impact on how people plan their travels and book hotels. This has given rise to several online hotel booking platforms such as booking.com. Traffic for these websites typically comes from search engine rankings (Pan 2015). Therefore, if your search engine is not properly optimized, it can lead to loss of business. Therefore, this research study was conducted to analyze the role of SEO in increasing sales in the hospitality industry.

Goals and tasks

Justification of research

Increased use of the Internet is having a major impact on traditional travel sales. Until a few years ago, hotel reservations were made through tour guides or directly at the hotel reception. However, now we live in an era where hotels are analyzed and booked online by analyzing hotel sales and public reviews. Therefore, it can be pointed out that SEO plays an important role in increasing or decreasing sales in the hospitality industry. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the process by which SEO helps increase sales in the hospitality industry (Anderson and Cheng 2017). Therefore, in this study, it is important to know how the hotel industry can best use SEO to expand customer reach and increase online bookings. It is important to maintain a good SEO ranking so that a particular hotel appears on the first page of Google search and is visible to users (Seymen 2017). SEO is based on a specific algorithm, so you need to know the concept and how it works. This study is justified as it aims to understand the concept of SEO and its use for increasing sales in the hospitality industry.

The purpose of the conducted study is to evaluate the processes and techniques used by the hotel industry to increase traffic for specific hotel websites (Benea 2014). With the increasing use of the internet and online booking facilities, it is clear that SEO can greatly contribute to increasing the profitability of your hospitality business. This is why this study is being conducted.

Significance of the research

The research conducted will help the hospitality industry understand the need to implement SEO to optimize their SEO rankings. SEO optimization is necessary to increase sales in the hospitality industry. The conducted study evaluates the process of utilizing SEO to optimize sales in the hospitality industry and increase profits in the hospitality industry.

Research structure

The structure of the study is given as follows.

Chapter 1 – Introduction: The first chapter of the dissertation provides knowledge about the goals, objectives, justification, and impact of the study. This chapter is important to inform the reader about the research focus and the need to conduct this particular study. Chapter 2 – Literature Review: This chapter of the dissertation analyzes secondary sources to obtain secondary data. This chapter reviews research journals and literature to gather evidence that will help you achieve your objectives and answer questions related to your research. The literature review chapter documents the work of other authors in this field and is therefore an important chapter of the study.

Problem statement

Chapter 3 – Methodological Discussion: The methodological discussion chapter is his third chapter of the research study conducted and identifies the key tools and techniques needed to complete and conduct the research . The method description provides an overview of the techniques selected to obtain and examine the study data. This chapter describes the tools used to collect and examine data. This chapter provides an overview of the process by which the research is conducted.

Chapter 4 – Empirical Data and Research Results: Chapter 4 is one of the most important chapters of the dissertation as it provides evidence of the data collected and examination of the data obtained. The data collected in this chapter will help assess whether the primary research goals are being achieved.

Chapter 5 – Analysis: Analyze the data obtained in Chapter 4 to see if the aims and objectives of the study have been achieved. This chapter is an important chapter of the study as it provides evidence of the research conducted, data collection, and data analysis.

Chapter 6 – Conclusion: The last part of the paper summarizes the main conclusions of the entire study and relates the study conclusions to the identified research objectives. This chapter outlines the scope of future research by listing the main limitations. The final chapter presents the conclusion of the research study.

Introduction

The purpose of the literature review chapter is to discuss the results of previous studies in the area of ​​the proposed research study. Literature review plays an important role in understanding the relevance of the proposed research to the identified problem. This chapter provides a knowledge base on the concept of SEO and its role in increasing sales in the hospitality industry. This comprehensive literature review is conducted to reflect the existing literature and identify inconsistencies in the previous literature that can be addressed in the planned study. Literature review is very important to understand the main research problem being investigated. This is possible because the work of previous researchers and their findings are critically analyzed as part of the literature review. This chapter comprehensively introduces and understands the concept of search engine optimization, which plays an important role in increasing sales in the hospitality industry. The purpose of a literature review is to gain general research acceptance that is relevant to a particular study. This chapter will help you build your knowledge in the field of search engine optimization. The hospitality industry is primarily driven by online sales and online bookings, so maintaining a high SEO ranking is essential. The literature review chapter recognizes the importance of SEO and the need for the hotel industry to maintain a good SEO rank. Evaluating research in this area will help critically identify the need for good SERP rankings and the need for tools to help the hospitality industry achieve it (Popescu, Nicolae, Pavel 2015 ). Additionally, the research gap and the theoretical framework to be followed in the study are further elaborated in the literature review chapter.

Justification of research

Search engine optimization

Baye, De los Santos, and Wildenbeest (2016) state that search engines are an important way to extract evidence from the Internet. Search engines are used by the majority of people to navigate the Internet, so they serve as an important connection between users and businesses. Gudivada, Rao, and Paris (2015) found that one of the main reasons why companies put the Internet at the center of their mission and vision is when customers search to find the information they need about the company or the company’s Collect products. It points out that this is because it depends on the engine. Search engines index pages efficiently by generating direct proxy page representations. Search engines are the basis of SEO, and SEO optimization is necessary to improve a company’s business functions. Search engines enable efficient web searches by creating a transparent process for users.

Egri and Bayrak (2014) define search engine optimization as the task of promoting research to improve search engine rankings. SEO is directly related to “page hit rate” and the occurrence of hits on each page. Therefore, we can see that search engines play an important role for businesses and websites to reach more customers. Therefore, search engine optimization has become an important factor for a company to increase customer traffic to his website.

Introduction 

Research methodology aims in identification of the appropriate tools and methods that enables a researcher to fulfil the main aims and the objectives of a research work. The significant of the methodology lies in solving major planning and operational problems that might affect the normal execution of a research (Bryman 2016). The aim of this study is to study the use of EEO for enhancing the sales in the hospitality sector. The research is based on evaluation of the facts and data that is available in relation to the business operation of the hospitality industry (Bell, Bryman and Harley 2018). The methodological discussion chapter for the study aims in identification of the appropriate methods that can contribute to the accurateness of collection of data for the study and examination of the collected data. The specific procedure and the technique that will be used for selection, processing and analysis of the information about chosen topic are evaluated in this chapter. This chapter is important for critical evaluation of the validity and reliability of the undertaken study. In the following sections, the process is which data is chosen for the study along with the techniques used for gathering the required data are discussed.

Research Significance

Method Outline 

Research Methods	Chosen Approach
Research Philosophy	Interpretivism
Research Design	Exploratory
Research Approach	Inductive
Data Collection Process	Secondary Data Collection
Data Analysis Process	Qualitative

 
Table 1: Demonstrating the Methods chosen for the Study

The table above identifies the research methods that are chosen for execution of the proposed study in an operative manner. The researcher has opted to collect secondary data for the study. The secondary sources will be evaluated to gain a detailed understanding of the process in which SEO can be used for increasing the sales and bookings in the hospitality sector. The literature review has given an extensive idea of the key concepts related to SEO and its use. The identified literature gap will be evaluated in the study and for that, the above indicated methods are opted. The justification behind choosing all the above identified methods are discussed in the following sections.

Research Philosophy 

The process of gathering data for a particular study is mainly outlined in the research philosophy. The choice of an appropriate philosophy is necessary for the researcher to correctly analyse and use the data collected for the study (Patten and Newhart 2017). Epistemology is a branch of research that is disturbed with the possibilities of nature, sources and limitations of the study. Epistemology give rise to two research philosophies, which include interpretivism philosophy, and positivism philosophy.

Interpretivism include the researchers to interpret various fundamentals of a study and this philosophy is known for incorporation of human interest in a specific study (Tuffour 2017.). This particular philosophy generally emphasizes on incorporation of human interest in a study. This particular philosophy mainly emphasizes on the use of qualitative methods in accomplishing the research results.

Positivism Philosophy is associated with the use of factual knowledge for execution of a research and mainly focuses on observation of a researcher. The collection and interpretation of the obtained data is mainly done in an objective way in this philosophy. This philosophy comes into play when empirical evidences is needed to fulfil the research objectives. In this study, the researcher’s role is related to gathering and understanding of the collected data.

As indicated earlier, interpretivism approach is chosen for gathering and examination of data in this study. The main idea behind collection of this data for the study was to make use of qualitative data to obtain the findings from the literature review (Singh 2015). The positivism philosophy would not have been appropriate for this particular study as empirical data is not used in the study. The research involves collection of qualitative data and hence the choice of the interpretivism philosophy for the study is justified.

Structure Of The Study

Research Approach 

Research approach enables a researcher to plan the gathering and examination of the research data in a suitable manner. Correct identification of the research approach enables the researcher to detail the technique of collection and analysis of research data. There are mainly three types of investigation approaches, which are “deductive approach, inductive approach and abductive approach”.

The Inductive approach in a study is mainly used for gathering and examination of qualitative data. The qualitative research does not involves any statistical analysis or testing of hypothesis and therefore, in such study the inductive approach is used (Jebb, Parrigon and Woo 2017).

The deductive approach is used for exploration and testing of a known phenomenon in a study and hence it requires formukation of hypothesis. The deductive approach therefoe is associated with development of research hypothesis which is generally not present in inductive approach.

The abductive research approach is set for considering the key weaknesses that are linked with the “inductive and deductive” research approach. This approach is mainly used in studies where the problem is not clear and involves the use of “surprising facts”.

The approach that is opted in this study is inductive approach. This research study is based on the use of qualitative data and therefore, does not involve formulation or testing of any hypotheses. The study is not associated with any empirical analysis and thus, the choice of inductive approach for the study is justified.

Research Design 

The research design generally outlines the framework of conducting the study. It integrates different components of a study that allows a researcher to put forward certain coherent and logical arguments in analysis of the data (Mayer 2015.). The methods and procedures that can be used for gathering and analysis of the research is generally outlined in form of the research design.

The research design that is mainly used in academic research include “exploratory research design” and “conclusive research design”. As the name suggest, the “exploratory design” is used for exploration of certain specific aspect of the study. The conclusive “research design” on the other hand, provides the researcher with an insight to certain important factors or specifications linked with a study (Johnston 2017.). The conclusive design can further be subdivided into two categories, which are descriptive design and casual design.

The proposed study requires analysis of the use of SEO in increasing the sales and profits of the hospitality sector. Therefore, it can be indicated that the study involves exploration of the specific use of SEO in boosting the sales. Thus, “exploratory research design” is chosen for this particular study. The choice of exploratory design for the study has permitted the researcher to analyse the key concepts of SEO, its working principles and the process in which SEO has contributed in increasing the sales and bookings in the hospitality sector.